A Bear Couldn't Break the Glass, but a Cat Could?

Clang!

Crack... crack...

As a series of cracking sounds rang out, fractures spread from the spot Meownei had just struck.

The glass the staff member had insisted could never be broken was now showing signs of shattering.

Inside, Pangoro saw cracks forming where it had struck and wore an expression of utter disbelief.

[So I'm already this strong?]

That was what this Pangoro was thinking. This wasn't the first time it had struck the glass, but it had never broken it before.

It mostly did this to intimidate the people outside the glass, because it now believed humans were all untrustworthy.

These people would smile as they said things they didn't mean, then turn nasty in no time when things didn't go the way they wanted.

Back then, that human had said they were taking it out to play, only to abandon it deep in the mountains.

Ever since, it had hated humans, as well as those Pokémon that couldn't face reality and still acted affectionately toward them.

Thud! Crash-

The glass had originally been a single, intact pane. The force of each blow would spread across its entire surface and gradually dissipate, but once a weak point appeared, everything changed.

The cracks rapidly spread across the whole pane, and with another blow from Pangoro, the glass shattered.

Countless shards fell to the ground, and the barrier between the people and Pangoro vanished completely.

Bzzz-bzzz-!

As the glass shattered, alarms sounded throughout the enclosure. The emergency responders outside noticed something was wrong and hurried over.

"Don't panic! This way! Follow me out through the emergency exit!"

"Mr. Mime, stop Pangoro and build a temporary wall!"

The staff member leading the group reacted quickly. He immediately threw the Poké Ball at his waist, releasing a Pokémon whose body closely resembled a human's, though its appearance was more like a clown's.

"Mime, mime!"

A pale blue ripple lit up around Mr. Mime's body. It then used Confusion, manipulating the soil and plants to restrain Pangoro just as it was about to make its next move.

For Pokémon capable of using psychic powers, Confusion was their most basic ability.

With powerful telekinesis, these Pokémon could perform all kinds of incredible feats. Controlling other Pokémon's bodies or other objects was particularly easy.

However, more than one Pangoro lived in this enclosure. The others had now noticed what was happening, and after the first Pangoro was driven back, they began approaching the breach one after another.

"Mime!"

Mr. Mime diverted some of its power, but splitting its focus weakened its telekinesis. A few of the stronger Pangoro began breaking free of the restraints it had created.

"This is bad. We won't make it out in time from here... everyone, sorry for the trouble, but please use your Pokémon to help hold them back! The emergency team will be here in three minutes at most!"

The staff member looked troubled. Battles between Pokémon were commonplace, but this shelter had been established to help these Pangoro gradually let go of their resentment over being abandoned.

Having other people order their Pokémon to attack them now could easily have the opposite effect.

Visitors were allowed to tour the shelter to remind aspiring Trainers to be responsible. He just hadn't expected the glass to shatter now.

People's safety came first, so the staff member could no longer worry about anything else. If he remembered correctly, this group was a school team on an educational visit, so they should be fairly capable.

"No need to make it that complicated. Meownei! Snatch all the bamboo leaves out of their mouths!"

"Meow... (Got it...)"

Meownei was actually feeling a little guilty. She had only struck the glass because she'd heard the staff member over there say it definitely wouldn't break.

After all, that Pangoro had followed them around, hurling insults the whole time. The humans couldn't understand exactly what it was saying, but Meownei could, and its language had been downright filthy.

Not only had it been foul-mouthed, it had also told Meownei that she would be abandoned sooner or later.

Applied to Meownei's situation, it was roughly like telling a couple in the honeymoon phase-at least, one of them thought they were-that once they grew old and lost their looks, they would definitely be dumped.

That was what had made Meownei lose her temper.

Yet the glass those hulking brutes couldn't break had cracked with a single blow from her. Uh... perhaps she was a little too strong.

Meownei moved quickly. The moment she received the command, she darted out and snatched the bamboo leaves from the mouths of several nearby Pangoro.

The Pangoro that had been swaggering around moments earlier went limp as noodles the instant they lost their bamboo leaves, collapsing weakly to the ground.

Unlike Pancham, which only held bamboo leaves in their mouths to look cool, the leaves in Pangoro's mouths had become sensory organs. Losing them impaired their ability to act.

Pangoro were also extremely particular about their bamboo leaves. An unsuitable leaf would be useless even if they held it in their mouths.

Targeting the bamboo leaves was therefore the quickest way to defeat Pangoro without hurting them.

For the same reason, Pangoro guarded those leaves closely. Mr. Mime had tried to take them away with Confusion, but hadn't succeeded.

"Meow. (Here are the bamboo leaves. I got them all. About that glass...)"

"It's all right. Don't worry. I'll handle it."

Others might not have known what had happened to the glass, but Meownei and Xin Mu knew perfectly well. It was just like what had been said earlier about taking responsibility.

These were his Pokémon. Since he lived here and enjoyed the conveniences Pokémon provided, he naturally had to take responsibility for some of the things his own Pokémon did.

Still, there didn't seem to be any serious consequences now. Apart from the loss of the glass, every other potential problem had been nipped in the bud.

Once all the Pangoro had been restrained, Mr. Mime began its next task.

It waved both hands up and down where the glass had shattered, and a pale white, translucent brick appeared. As Mr. Mime continued moving, a wall materialized out of thin air, sealing the breach.

This wasn't a move, but a special ability of Mr. Mime's. The suction cups on its fingertips could emit special waves that stopped the molecules in the air from moving, forming an invisible wall.

The wall offered such formidable protection that even a howitzer fired at point-blank range couldn't damage it, making Mr. Mime an ideal Pokémon for emergency services.

Mr. Mime could be found on emergency teams operating in all kinds of hazardous environments.

"Here. These are the bamboo leaves from those Pangoro's mouths. You can return them once you've repaired the glass wall."

By the time the breach was sealed, the emergency team was in position. After the staff member led the group outside, Xin Mu approached him with the bamboo leaves.

"Also, about that glass..."

"I'm terribly sorry!"

"I'm really sorry..."

Xin Mu had just been about to apologize for the glass and ask how to settle the matter, only for the staff member to apologize first.

Although his instructor had told them during training that Pangoro definitely couldn't break it, there was no reason Meowscarada should have been able to break it either.

As far as he was concerned, this had to be a product-quality issue.

Regardless of how it had actually happened, he would apologize first. That way, whatever the truth turned out to be, it wouldn't affect him too badly.